This invention relates to a microscope system including an electronic camera for electronically obtaining an image observed by a microscope.
As digital techniques have developed, digital photographing has begun to be widely used in the field of a microscopy in recent years. Digital photographing does not require a developing process and thus is advantageous in easily obtaining a photograph as compared with silver salt film photographing. Digitally photographed data, moreover, can be stored as data in a personal computer or the like, and this will never be deteriorated as a negative silver salt film. Further, in the case of silver salt film photographing a specific space needs to be provided for storing the film.
The conventional digital photograph has not been as good as a silver salt film in image quality, and thus has not been used very much. But with developments in the quality of an imaging element (CCD), the image quality of digital photographing has been improved to be equal to that of the silver salt film photograph, and thus will be widely spread in the field of microscopy.
An example of the electronic camera (digital camera) used for the conventional microscope is shown in FIG. 1. Conventionally, a microscope body 1 is provided with a tri-metrogan barrel 10, and an observer 90 observes an image via a binocular eye-piece barrel 20. The tri-metrogan barrel 10 has another optical path (port) at an upper portion, and obtains a photograph image or a television monitor image using the port.
The port is fixed to an adapter 30 for a television camera, and the adapter 30 is fixed to a CCD camera 80. An electronic camera is approximate in structure to a CCD video camera used for a television monitor, and thus not the normal camera adapter but an adapter for a television camera is frequently used. The television camera adapter 30 is a barrel-shaped unit containing an optical system for relaying an image output from the tri-metrogan barrel 10 to a CCD device in the CCD camera 80 to correctly image in the CCD device.
A signal output from the CCD camera 80 is sent to a television monitor 81 through a cable, and the image can be monitored thereby. The final framing or focusing of the obtained photograph is performed while watching a monitor 81. When the CCD camera 80 is connected not to the television monitor 81 but to a personal computer 82, the image can be directly stored as a file in a personal computer 82. The CCD camera 80 connected to a personal computer 82 can be operated with use of the personal computer 82 through a key board 83. When the CCD camera 80 is connected to the monitor 81, the CCD camera 80 is operated by a handswitch 51 provided thereto. The obtained photograph is stored in a memory device in the CCD camera 80, and can be input into the personal computer by some method, or when the CCD camera 80 is connected to the personal computer, the obtained photograph is directly sent to the personal computer 82 to be stored in a memory device in the personal computer 82.
The conventional electronic camera used for the microscope has a problem that the microscope electronic camera has so many systems that a large space is occupied thereby. A microscope that is used for various applications is also connected to various peripheral apparatuses, which results in disorder on a desk and occupation of a large space. When the apparatuses such as the handswitch 51, the personal computer 82, and the key board 83 are further added thereto, the operability on the desk will become worse, of course. In order to obtain an image from the microscope, however, at least the television monitor 81 must be located near the microscope. In other words, if the television monitor 81 cannot be located near the microscope due to the short of the space on the desk, the framing or focusing in photographing cannot be performed normally.
Further, the conventional microscope electronic camera is constituted of many components, and thus has poor flexibility in terms of compatibility and mobility. In such cases, all the components such as the television monitor 81, the personal computer 82, and the key board 83 must be carried to be used with the microscope electronic camera.
There is another problem in the electronic camera: the configuration cost of the system. The electronic photograph cannot be obtained only with use of the CCD camera 80 and the handswitch 51. A user must buy expensive apparatuses such as the television monitor 81 or the personal computer 82 only to perform the framing or the focusing.
On the other hand, in observing a specimen with use of a microscope, the microscope will be provided with various filters or optical elements suitable for the object of the observation. When the image obtained by the observation by a microscope is not photographed by an electronic camera, image processings corresponding to the filter or optical element to be executed for the image signal are obtained by the electronic camera, in order to obtain a suitable image.
In the white balance correction example of image processing, when a light amount of the illumination light to be applied to the specimen is adjusted to observe a specimen with a light amount suitable for the observation, the white balance correction needs to be executed so as to obtain a predetermined white balance free from the color temperature change of the illumination light due to the light amount adjustment. Accordingly, every time that the color temperature change of the illumination light occurs due to the insertion/extraction of the filter on the optical path of the illumination light or change the light amount of the illumination light source, the white balance is reset therefor to suitably observe the specimen.
On the other hand, there has been proposed a technique of preparing correction data for the white balance correction in initializing the microscope, as disclosed by the Japanese Patent KOKAI Application No. 6-351027, for example. According to this technique, the spectral transmission characteristics is measured on the basis of the image signal obtained by the imaging element while varying the light amount of the illumination light source and serially inserting/extracting filters used therefor, thereby the white balance correction data is prepared from all the combination of the light amounts of the illumination light source and the filters in initializing the microscope. In observing the specimen, the white balance is executed on the basis of the white balance correction data corresponding to the light amount of the illumination light source and the condition of the filter in that time.
However, the technique of executing the white balance on the basis of the white balance correction data can be only used when the microscope is used for the transmission observation. It is difficult to prepare such white balance correction data in projection observation. Accordingly, the specimen cannot be always photographed under the suitable correction. Further, the measurement is performed through the image processing system, and thus the correction data does not always correspond to a suitable correction amount corresponding to the illumination light color temperature. Recently, there has been further proposed a microscope capable of controlling an entire microscope system such as the setting of observation method, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent KOKAI Application No. 7-199077. According to such a microscope, however, the observer must executes a plenty of processings in accordance with the observation condition such as an observation method in order to obtain a suitable image.
The object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera for a microscope, which occupies a small space, which comprises components of a reasonable cost, and which can obtain a digital photograph with ease.
The other object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera for a microscope, which can obtain an optimum image in accordance with an observation condition of the microscope and a specimen.
The above-mentioned problems can be solved by the electronic camera for a microscope as described below.
The present invention is an electronic camera attached to a microscope, which integrally includes an imaging element, a signal processing section for processing a signal from an imaging element, a memory for recording photographed image data, and a display for displaying an image obtained by the imaging element.
With such a structure, in the microscope electronic camera according to the present invention, the signal from the imaging element is processed by the signal processing section, and displayed by the display integrally provided thereto. Accordingly, by operating while watching the image of the display means, digital photographing can be attained without providing television monitor or personal computer independent therefrom.
The above-mentioned problems can be overcome by the following microscope electronic camera. More specifically, a microscope electronic camera which is attached to a microscope having a function of setting the observation condition of a specimen and which attains an observation image of the specimen by an imaging element comprises:
a recognizing section which when setting of the observation condition in the microscope is changed, recognizes the information the setting of which is changed, and
a signal processing section for processing an image signal output from the imaging element in accordance with information sent from the recognizing section.
According to such a structure, the optimum image can be attained in accordance with the observation of the microscope or the specimen.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.